Path of the Berserker
Book 5: Chapter 18

I stood within the pre-dawn rays of the Bloodmoon, slowly cultivating my spiritual resilience as I allowed the Dark Frenzy to ebb just slightly into the core of my Dantian before pushing it back out again via cycling.

It was an unnerving feeling.

Like taking a deep breath while underwater.

It went against every instinct to allow the unpure energy to flow within my system, but by doing so, it allowed me to more quickly experience the effects that would otherwise take the full force of a Cursed Star to achieve.

That was how strong my spiritual fortitude had become now.

The rays of the Bloodmoon had no effect unless I allowed it.

But through this, I had developed a more efficient form of cultivating.

I had delved into the deep spiritual pressures of the third layer of the Bloodmoon a few times now and while it was great for progressing, it left me completely zapped for a few days afterwards while my Dantian fully recovered. This method, in contrast, was slower but far more convenient when it came to my up time. I had a whole city to run now plus a kid to raise, and with the sparse time I had left, I couldn’t afford to be bed-ridden for days on end.

As I ocellated between injecting small bits of the Dark Frenzy into my core and spitting it out again, my third eye opened into the spiritual realm and I could sense the tentacles of I’xol’ukz whipping all about me. I used the opportunity to flex my [Fear the Flame] technique, keeping him at bay. And while he didn’t respond back to me with words, I could sense the anger and hatred my presence caused.

But I was sensing a new emotion as well now.

Fear…

Ever since my dip into the well that was the Chainmaiden’s domain, I had sensed a shift in I’xol’ukz’s presence when I entered the spiritual realm. He was ever present now. Front and center, no matter if I was approaching the Bloodmoon from just outside the city’s barrier or outside the Terran village as I was doing now.

I had his full attention no matter where I went.

Like a great white shark that could suddenly appear as soon as you stuck your toes in the ocean, no matter which body of water it was—he was there.

That meant only one thing to me.

I had struck a nerve.

That world I had seen had to indeed be the one where I’xol’ukz truly lay. And now, I finally had the means to find out where that world was hidden amongst the stars.

Yeah, I’m coming for you, you bastard, I thought as my ire for vengeance and retribution began to boil. You mess with my family and I’m going to bring the heat to yours.

As I evoked the thought, I sensed I’xol’ukz screech and reel.

I cultivated the Frenzy produced from the anger within my Flame and tucked it away into my Dantian, trying to expand it further. I had been keeping up with this routine for the last month, fitting it in between managing things in the city and spending time with my family out in the wild.

I figured I was still within the 7th Tier of the Sacred Soul Realm but perhaps a half step away from 8th tier now, considering the Frenzy density of my core. But to truly progress I needed to keep piling on the artifacts within my Inner World to refine it further. So far, my Inner World consisted of a facsimile of the Hell Worlds. A perfect copy taken from my memory, but to truly make it real I needed real life artifacts to absorb to bring it to life.

As for what that meant I was still yet to figure out.

Maybe I had set the bar too high by making my Inner World a Hell World, but that was just where the Flame was leading me. Solving that puzzle was something that kept my mind constantly busy.

But keeping busy was all I could do now, following my cringe worthy meeting with Princess Lunalah and waiting for an answer to my requests. Unfortunately, for my sins, the crazy bitch had summoned me to her chambers twice more to discuss our future ‘plans’.

It had been like playing Russian roulette each visit—me actively flirting with her while desperately trying to avoid the unwanted advances that they would produce. Luckily my charade of not wanting to besmirch her honor worked for the most part and I had gotten away with merely holding and kissing her hand thus far.

But the lemonade in her soul told me she hungered for much more.

If that wasn’t bad enough, Fia made me recount everything I did with her in detail, as a form of accountability I thought at first, but after she started laughing, I realized she was just getting a damn good kick out of mocking the princess at the expense of my cringe.

Thankfully, during my last visit, Princess Lunalah revealed that she had been successful in gaining me access to the smithing world of Ri Ben as well as the access for Xi Xha and Mu Lin to conduct research within the grand archives.

I honesty couldn’t believe it was so easy, but then she had hit me with something else.

“That’s not the most important part,” she had said. “I’ve found a way to make you a Duke, but you must meet with my mother on the Core World of Scalia to do so.”

She didn’t elaborate on it too much more after that.

Only that she would be joining my entourage to the closest fringe world with an Omni Gate to see me off. That part, I was not looking forward to. Stuck on a space yacht with Princess Lunalah for a couple of days sounded like a nightmare.

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I shook the thoughts away and refocused on the end goal.

I was one step closer to protecting my son and saving my world.

“Damn, Max, didn’t you do enough of that Bloodmoon cultivation back in prison?”

I stirred from my spiritual meditation to see Blue Rose standing just beyond the lip of Venja’s barrier. It wasn’t her first trip out to the wild, but today would be her last.

As it would be the last for me as well.

“That time already?” I asked.

“You said to come get you at dawn.”

I nodded and withdrew my thoughts completely from the spiritual realm.

Finding and defeating I’xol’ukz would have to wait.

Today, I had family time planned.

* * *

Fia, Kelsey and Yu Li had set about arranging a farewell party for both me and Hein. His shore leave was just about up, and he would be returning to the Xin Long, parting ways once we reached the core worlds. We spent the morning preparing for the event, with Kelsey and I making multiple trips across the wild to ensure everyone was present for the affair, including Master Hei Dong, Lee and Jian Yi.

For lunch, Kelsey then served up another Terran surprise, introducing everyone to the concept of wood-fired pizza. Thankfully it was a hit and as the afternoon stretched on, we enjoyed ourselves with laughter, food and fun.

For me it was a bittersweet affair.

I held Bryce and Fia as much as possible, cognizant that I would be leaving them both behind for a few more months now. And who knew what lay ahead of me? Part of me was excited for the fighting knowledge I would gain from the smiths of Ri Ben, but whether I had enough time to absorb it all was the question.

I had basically half a year to ‘get good’ in the ring and my last battle with the Warden was confirmation of that. Skill on skill alone, she would have beaten me and if I was going up against another true Diamond Bracket contender, I needed to get my shit together and fast.

“You’ll be fine,” Fia said as I lamented to her. “You learn very quickly. It’s perhaps your greatest skill.”

I’d never thought of it like that. I still considered myself a chun when it came to most things, but her words spoke confidence into my soul. As we sat together on a blanket, overlooking the square where our collective friends and family were gathered and fellowshipping together, a heaviness and longing entered my heart.

This was my home, and I would be soon leaving it all behind again.

“I’m going to miss you, Fia,” I said, stroking her hair and then smiled down at little Bryce in her arms. “I hope one day we can just be like this forever. Just raise our family in peace.”

She chuckled. “Would that truly be enough for you?”

I squinted at her. “Of course. Why wouldn’t it be? It’s what I’m fighting for.”

“We will see,” she said still smiling.

“What do you mean by that?”

“You are a Sacred Soul Realm cultivator now, Max. You will be this strong and vibrant when Bryce is 100 and has a growing family of his own.”

“Yeah so?”

“So, what I mean is, that we will always be here for you, Max, but your path is much greater than that now. I don’t know where the Heavens are leading you, but since the beginning I sensed greatness in you.” She then grinned. “It’s why I seduced you to make you my own.”

She laughed as I gave her a playful scoff in return. “You wish. I was the one that seduced you.”

“Well then, I hope you put those seduction skills to use on your skiff ride with the princess. She must be begging you for marriage by the time it is over.”

She laughed even harder as my countenance fell and my stomach churned. “I’m glad you’re taking such pleasure in all this, Fia.”

“Oh, don’t pout,” she said, and gave me a kiss on my cheek. “It’s only the knowledge of your true love for me that makes me so bold. You are exceptional, Max and the Princess can sense it as well. She will hunger for your destiny just as much as she does your love. It will make our final victory over her all the more crushing.”

But as Fia continued on about how great it was going to be to finally reveal herself to be alive, all I could think about was what she had said earlier. Right now, my family meant the world to me, but was my path destined to take me places where I couldn’t even enjoy being with them at all?

The thought shook me inside.

As if to punctuate the fact, Fia made another prescient proclamation.

“And once you do away with her, you’ll have the whole planet under your control, and then after that, who knows? The region? The Empire?”

She was laughing as she said it, making it a light-hearted joke, but the words rang true to the core of my Twin Dao. I was destined to defy the Empire and the scourge of the Cursed Stars, both. And while I knew this deep in my soul, I never knew the true price.

Until now.

I looked down at little Bryce, realizing how far my path would take me away from him, even if what I was doing was to save him in the end. As a subtle melancholy took hold, only the sense of the Struggler’s hand on my shoulder gave me any comfort at all.

“Are you alright?” Fia asked, suddenly looking concerned.

I brushed my thoughts away with a smile and tapped into my [Struggler’s Resolve].

“It’s all good,” I said. “Just thinking about how far I have to travel, but I’ll be back before you know it, and everything will work out just fine like you said.”

Fia still looked at me oddly, like she knew I was saying it to placate her.

But in truth the words were for me.

As the afternoon wound down, we packed up and said our final goodbyes. I skipped the speeches and just went around the community, receiving expressions of love and thanks from everyone. Hein too said his farewells, to his family, including Yu Li and Su Ling, who still referred to him now lovingly as Uncle Hein. Blue Rose even got in on the act, giving a respectful bow to Yu Li and her family. I still wasn’t sure of the depth of Hein and Blue’s relationship, but they were close enough that little Su Ling called her Auntie Blue now.

I gave Fia and Bryce a final kiss and embrace and promised to write. Hein, Blue and I then saddled up to take everyone back to the city and then rendezvous at the sky port to meet the Princess’s skiff that would take us on the first leg of our journey to the Core Worlds.

It took us just a couple of hours to cross the wilds and then a couple more to make final preparations and pack for our trip across the stars. I signed my final decision paper, placing Master Hei Dong as Acting Warden for the duration of my trip and granting him full powers under the law.

He then joined my entourage and I, consisting of myself, Hein, Blue Rose, Mal’Kira and Tu’lok as we headed for the highest point of the Imperial City to meet the skiff that was due to arrive just after nightfall.

As we reached the sky port, two more members of my entourage were waiting to join me. Xi Xha and Mu Lin. They greeted us with polite bows and I went through all the introductions as the first rays of the Bloodmoon tinted the night with its red hue.

Soon lights from the Imperial Skiff appeared and as it landed, Master Hei Dong directed us to line up in a specific order as we all presented ourselves to the princess. I was kind of glad he did, because when the gangplank lowered and a small platoon of Imperial Guards came out, dressed in full ceremonial garb, I suddenly felt underdressed even within my Legionnaire’s robes.

Following close behind them was Ling Wei and a moment later, all fell to their knees as the Princess Lunalah arrived. Although it had become a bit of old hat for me, meeting with her at the imperial palace, it seemed when she was out and about, she put on an extra flare of pageantry that I suppose people expected to see when they met a princess.

I followed suit, falling to one knee, while others performed full kowtows of respect.

Lunalah stopped just in front of me and a wicket smile met her ruby lips as she looked down at me.

“You may rise, Marshal Iron Bull,” she said and then threw glances at my companion. “As may you all. As retainers of the Iron Marshal, you are privileged to join him abord my Imperial Skiff bound for the fringe world of Kul’tar.”

I forced a smile and then kissed the back of her hand before standing. “I’m honored to see you again, your majesty.”

She chuckled. “As am I, dear Marshal. Come. We shall sup upon the aft deck as we commence our journey.” She then grinned at me predatorily. “I have much I wish to discuss with you before we retire for the night.”

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